


The Gift

by Palefire73



Series: Loki Origins [35]
Category: Frigga - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Norse Gods - Fandom, sigyn - Fandom
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, Cute young love, First almost kiss, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 08:57:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14638467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: Loki plucks up the courage to give Sigyn a token of their friendship, even if he gets the wrong idea about courting.





	The Gift

Friendship is one of those things in life that simply makes it better. At the important points in the development of anyone, the friends we can laugh with, cry with, or take a giant leap of faith with are the ones who will be there through thick or thin, ever judging us with a touch of humour, always ready to advise and definitely the ones we turn to when it has all gone terribly wrong. Of course, friends come and go, but for those of us who are fortunate enough, there will be that special someone who will accompany us throughout our life and, even if they are not constantly by our side, they are there when it matters most.

 

The social life of Asgard was quite busy in general and more so in the circles that frequented and inhabited the Palace. Those children who were fortunate enough to be schooled there were virtually guaranteed to grow up in the company of nobles, high-ranking military families and, of course, the Royals. It would be a difficult and sometimes treacherous lesson to learn for the Princes that not everyone who claimed to be a friend would have their best interests at heart, but while they were young the chances were that any child who asked to play with them did so because they wanted to, and not because they had been pushed there by ambitious parents. Tyr was already the proud member of a few clubs where he had made plenty of friends in addition to the ones he had grown up with in school, and his general fairmindedness, along with his prowess in warrior training, meant that he was a popular young man amongst his peers. He was rarely without someone to accompany him on his various escapades and adventures. Thor, almost by default, was also a part of Tyr’s social circle because his older brother enjoyed taking him along to games and competitions, as well as on the frequent exploration he was wont to do around the grounds of the Palace – and beyond. So, Thor was also usually to be found in the company of someone during the day and his generous and friendly disposition meant that there could often be quite a large group of similar aged children to be found with him. His closest friends were those who lived within the Palace grounds and who were hostage children from other realms: they had been brought to Asgard at a very young age and were almost like siblings to him, one of them being the Lady Sif who was already showing signs of being a fierce warrior.

 

Loki, by contrast, was still fairly shy. It was nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary; it was a sure way to ensure the intentions of any potential new friend were genuine. However, it could be quite painful at times to get him to smile and to say hello to someone new, much to the exasperation of Odin, who was only thinking about how he would react when he was older and expected to represent Asgard on foreign visits. Frigga was more understanding however, because she knew it was because Loki was not just receiving visual and verbal information about anyone he met for the first time; he could _see_ other things about them and, if he did not actively try to block it out, he could _hear_ them too. As you can imagine, this overload of information that no one else seemed to be getting was often overwhelming for him, hence the quietness he displayed. For example, knowing that the new arrival in his class – who was shaking his hand and addressing him as a Prince – was also thinking _what a scrawny-looking boy_ in their mind was not pleasant at all. He had confided in his mother about this and she was currently showing him how to close off the signals, but it affected him non-the-less and it manifested in a reluctance to go out and make new acquaintances.

 

Fortunately, even Loki had a few close friends who he had spent a few months with at school and he had managed to learn how to create a barrier in his mind to stop too many of their stray thoughts coming his way. He was by no means a powerful reader of others’ thoughts and he certainly didn’t set out to try to read them, but every now and again he would be hit with a sudden string of ideas which were not his own. After talking to his mother, he had decided he did not want to hear or feel what was going through anyone else’s mind because it brought with it alien emotion much of the time. His almost five year old mind was not equipped to deal with it and so Frigga’s lessons in building mental barriers commenced. Because of these, the time spent with his peers became much more pleasant and he was able to relax once more.

 

One of the children he had gradually spent more and more time with, both in school and socially, was Sigyn. She was in his class and they were in the after-school drama club together, which was run by Miss Sturludóttir. Despite the initial shyness of both children towards each other, it had only taken a few silly games and script readings for them to start to warm to one another and to become relaxed in each other’s company. Sigyn sensed the uneasiness Loki had around people he did not know very well and often stayed by his side as reassurance whenever there were strangers around. Arvid was another friend of Loki’s, having been in several productions with him now, and the somewhat larger boy had a sense of brotherliness towards the little Prince too. At lunchtimes, the three of them would often sit together and talk about what they were doing at the weekends. It was this frequent interaction, along with Sigyn’s protective and affectionate nature, that led to Loki’s feelings towards her grow. For a child that was naturally cautious, this was not something that came about lightly and the young Prince did not know what to do about it. He did not know what it meant; only that he preferred time spent with her than without, but it was all a bit confusing and he eventually plucked up the courage to talk to his mother about it.

 

“Móðir?” Loki’s question sounded thoughtful and almost as if he did not really want to carry on with what he wanted to ask, so Frigga’s interest was instantly piqued. She put down her embroidery and looked at him.

“Yes, my son? What is it?” She asked, reaching over to hold one of his hands.

“When you met Fadir, did you love him?”

 

Loki’s question took Frigga aback and she smiled questioningly.

 

“Why ever do you ask? I do love your father very much, and I am quite sure he loves me too.”  
“Yes, but…. How did you know you would love him?”

“Well, we were introduced by our parents, I already knew who he was and we spent time courting….”

“What is courting?” interrupted the young Prince.

 

Frigga paused, slightly amused by Loki’s inquisitiveness; she wanted to answer all of his questions as honestly as she could, but she realised that she should water down some of the meanings to a more child-friendly version. Courtship was something that was private between couples and Loki was certainly not of an age to be learning about some of the intricacies of it just yet.

 

“Courting is… well, it is spending a little time together in order to learn more about each other.”

“Like at playtime?” Asked Loki, his large blue eyes looking at her expectantly.

“Er… a little like playtime, perhaps not quite as…”

“Then I shall spend more of playtime with her.”

“Who, Loki?”

“Sigyn.” he replied, “I very much like her because she is kind and I would like to court her and I want to make her a present.” He held out a piece of parchment upon which there was a picture, “I wish to make this for her.” he said, “Will you help?”

 

Frigga looked at the picture to see the image of a roaring wolf and she raised an eyebrow as she looked at Loki.

“Are you quite sure she would like this?” She asked.

“Oh yes. Every time I see her, the image of a wolf comes to my mind and she said she thinks they are fierce and strong.”

“Very well. I think we could make something for her. Is it to be jewellery? Or a painting perhaps?”

“A hairpin. She has long hair and it would help to keep it tidy.” Said Loki matter-of-factly and Frigga smiled.

“Come along then, my son. We will go to the artisans in the market and see what we can do.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“It is so hot in here!” Exclaimed Loki, “Why is it so hot?”

“Well, for one,” said Frigga, pointing to the centre of the huge dirt-floored space, “the forge keeps it that way.”

 

The forge she indicated was an incredible structure. Built of the finest stone mined from the deepest of the Dwarven mines, it held enough wood to keep it lit for days. Twenty feet in girth, it offered several areas for up to four smiths to work at any one time and the giant stone chimney it sported formed the central support for the lofty roof. All about the smithy were the tools of the trade, as well as impressive anvils that invariably bore witness to the ringing of the hammers as they were used to shape the cooling metal into all manner of objects, from swords to the chisel for a plough. However, not all the items made there were large and rough tools or wicked blades; there was a great demand for well-made jewellery too. Frigga took Loki over to introduce him to one of her favoured artisans who worked within the smithy, although he was not an actual ironmonger or blacksmith. He designed and worked metal, but employed the other craftspeople to do the hot work of moulding and casting for him before he refined his pieces. He looked at the drawing Loki had made with great interest.

 

“This is a strong design, my Prince. A worthy object for one such as you to wear.”

“It is not for me!” Said Loki, “It is for a Lady I wish to court!”

The Artisan glanced at Frigga in amusement and she smiled sheepishly, “Loki is very fond of one of his friends and would like to make her a present of a hairpin with this design. Would it be possible?”

“Oh yes, of course. What metal would you like it to be made in, my Prince? Gold? Silver…”

“Iron.” Stated Loki, “And I would like you to include this.” He held out his hand and uncurled his little fingers to reveal a rough green stone. “Can you make it shiny?” He asked.

 

Frigga and the Artisan both peered at the tiny stone, which was a bit chipped and was partly embedded in some graphite.

“Ahhh, Tsavorite!” Nodded the Artisan. “Not very common, but a beautiful gem with its green shade. Where did you get it? It is only found on Midgard as far as I know.”

“We went on a field trip and I noticed patterns near some rocks which looked like the Bi Frost footprint, so we were told to draw them for our project. Sigyn found it and gave it to me because she said that when she thinks of me she sees the colour green!”

“How lovely. So, you would like this to be used for the hairpin?”

“Yes, for its eye.” Loki pointed to his design, “But it must be shiny, not rough like it is now!”

“My Prince, it will be an honour to make this for your friend. I will let your mother know when it is ready so that you can collect it personally.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Go on, my son.”

 

Frigga watched as Loki slowly approached the girl standing on the other side of the small area at the front of the school buildings where they would play out at lunch time. She smiled inwardly: Loki had been so sure about everything to do with the gift when he had been dealing with the Artisan, almost to the point of rudeness when insisting on certain aspects of the design, but now that he was about to give it to the young lady he was in such admiration of, his nerves had almost got the better of him. He had needed quite a few words of encouragement before he would leave his mother’s side and go to present the hairpin to Sigyn and Frigga watched on now with a sense of pride and love, for she knew it was not always easy to demonstrate affection for someone. Her heart went out to Loki as he reached Sigyn and bowed politely in the manner of a true Prince before holding out a pretty little box for her. The look of apprehension on his young features was just so sweet to see, as was the smile of appreciation Sigyn gave him before taking the proffered gift.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Sigyn? May I have a moment of your time?” The rehearsed words almost stuck in Loki’s throat, but he managed to get them out and the little girl smiled widely as she looked at the box he was holding out to her. “I have a gift for you… I would very much like it to be a symbol of our friendship.” Those words were a little easier to say. Frigga had suggested they were better than asking to court her, as – apparently – “courting” was what older people did, not very young children.

“Is this for me?” Asked Sigyn, her eyes sparkling as she smiled again.

“Yes. I had it made… I designed it, too!” Loki could not help but say it, for he was very proud of the hairpin and how it had turned out. Yet he was very worried about what sort of reception it would get and he glanced at her with concern as she untied the golden bow to open the box. Inside, there was green tissue paper protecting the contents and she lifted it carefully to reveal her gift.

 

Lifting the hairpin from its box, Sigyn held it up to look at it. She turned the wolf-head around and watched with wonder as the beautiful polished Tsavorite gem caught the light of the Asgardian Sun. She looked at Loki, who almost looked ready to cry and grinned happily. Flinging her arms about him the way that small children do, she exclaimed “Oh Loki! I love it! Is it truly for me? Are we truly friends?” Before he could reply, she drew back and giggled as she slid the pin into her hair, “How does it look?” she asked.

 

And over on the other side of the playground, Frigga’s heart almost burst with joy as she witnessed her son receiving his first ever kiss on the cheek from a girl.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt by V-Bird in the comments after a previous Loki Origins tale called "The Healer".  
> Sorry it took a while, but I needed him a little bit older!


End file.
